‘Love one another as I have loved you’
School Vision Statement
Our vision is to foster an enthusiasm for learning, enabling pupils to be creative, independent and resilient, whilst celebrating their unique talents and gifts, within a Catholic environment that creates committed young disciples understanding their role in the local and global community.
School Mission Statement
We will show God’s love through our faith and actions.
We will ask God to help us through challenges we encounter.
We will celebrate and respect the diversity within our community.
Promoting British Values
The DfE have recently reinforced the need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”
The Government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy, and these values have been reiterated this year (2014). At Holy Innocents’ these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways. We keep an up to date audit of all such teaching and learning opportunities.
Democracy
Holy Innocents’ uses UNICEF’s Children’s Rights as a basis for much of its PSHE curriculum. Each year the children will decide upon their class charter and the rights associated with these. All children will contribute to the drawing up of the charter.
Children have many opportunities for their voices to be heard. At Holy Innocents’ we have a School Council made up of elected class members from each year group, who meet regularly to discuss issues raised in classes. The School Council will often raise issues which are then passed on to the SLT or Head Teacher, and is able to genuinely effect change within the school.
Annually, nominations for House Captains are received from within Year Six. Each nominee prepares a speech for a special assembly and then voting takes place within each of the four houses.
Year five hold a mock election each year using resources from the Parliamentary Website which helps them understand about democracy in the UK. A visit to City Hall is then planned for the following term.
Annually, children are asked for their opinion about the school and how it can be improved.
The Rule of Law
The importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken; this includes school specific rules. Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service help reinforce this message.
Individual Liberty
Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for pupils to make choices safely, through provision of a safe environment and empowering education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons. Whether it be through choice of learning challenge, of how they record, of participation in our numerous extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices. We set the right balance between risk taking and appropriate boundaries to nurture a ‘can-do’ mindset in our children within a supportive and caring atmosphere.
Mutual Respect
Mutual respect is at the heart of our values. Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others. A key strength at Holy Innocents’ is the relationship between all our staff and the pupils. Visitors to our school and members of the public who see us out and about on the many trips we go on, comment positively on behaviour, manners and relationships. Though we embrace debate and differing opinions, from the governing body down throughout the school, we value and respect one another and we show this by using good manners in all our interactions. Our aim is that all members of the school community treat each other with respect.
Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs
Holy Innocents’ is rich in cultural diversity and we celebrate this within our school community. We learn about other world faiths through the RE curriculum and we also celebrate members of other faiths within our community. Assemblies are regularly planned to address this issue either directly or through the inclusion of stories and celebrations from a variety of faiths and cultures. Our RE and PSHE teaching and cultural awareness reinforce this. Members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes and the school.
Holy Innocents’ Core Values